Equality Act 2010 (2024)

FAQs

What is the main point of the Equality Act 2010? ›

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. It replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act, making the law easier to understand and strengthening protection in some situations.

Under the Equality Act 2010, there are 9 protected characteristics which are; age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

Examples. A school or employer refuses to give a reference to an ex-pupil or ex-employee because of his or her religion or belief. This would be direct discrimination. A builder or plumber addresses abusive and hostile remarks to a previous customer because of her sex after their business relationship has ended.

They amend the Equality Act 2010 to ensure that current rights continue once the interpretive effects of EU law on the United Kingdom's statute book have been removed, at the end of 2023, by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (c. 28).

The general duty requires decision-makers to have due regard to the need to eliminate conduct prohibited by the act, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations in relation to activities such as: recommending new or revised public policy to a minister.

What is employment discrimination? Employment discrimination generally exists where an employer treats an applicant or employee less favorably merely because of a person's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran.

7.4 Section 13 of the 2010 Act defines direct discrimination for the purposes of the Act. Section 13(6)(a) provides that, where the protected characteristic is sex, less favourable treatment of a woman includes less favourable treatment because she is breastfeeding.

Under the Act, it is unlawful to discriminate, harass or victimise someone because they have or are perceived to have a “protected characteristic” or are associated with someone who has a protected characteristic. This means treating someone less favourably than someone else because of a protected characteristic.

What is Section 27 of the Equality Act 2010? ›

Victimisation (defined in Section 27 of the Equality Act 2010) takes place where one person treats another less favourably because he or she has asserted their legal rights in line with the Act or helped someone else to do so.

19Indirect discrimination

(1)A person (A) discriminates against another (B) if A applies to B a provision, criterion or practice which is discriminatory in relation to a relevant protected characteristic of B's. (d)A cannot show it to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

What is the Equality Act? The Equality Act is a law which protects you from discrimination. It means that discrimination or unfair treatment on the basis of certain personal characteristics, such as age, is now against the law in almost all cases.

The Equality Act 2010 says you must not be discriminated against because: you are (or are not) of a particular religion. you hold (or do not hold) a particular philosophical belief. someone thinks you are of a particular religion or hold a particular belief (this is known as discrimination by perception)

(1)An authority to which this section applies must, when making decisions of a strategic nature about how to exercise its functions, have due regard to the desirability of exercising them in a way that is designed to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage.

Objective justification gives a defence for applying a policy, rule or practice that would otherwise be unlawful indirect discrimination. It also gives a defence for using an rule or practice based on someone's age, that would otherwise be direct discrimination.

Equality means providing equal opportunities and resources to each individual. Equity means recognizing the resources and opportunities needed by an individual or group of individuals and providing them with those resources and opportunities impartially.

EQUALITY OBJECTIVES

Eliminate discrimination and other conduct that is prohibited by the Act; Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it; Foster good relations between people of all characteristics.